There were lots of "oohs and ahhhs" from the crowd of adults and kids who gathered to see 8-day-old Mondika's first public appearance at the Cincinnati Zoo Tuesday morning.

The baby Western Lowland gorilla's public debut took place in the Zoo's outdoor gorilla yard along with Asha, the mother, Jomo, the father, and family members M'linzi, Samantha, Anju and baby Gladys.

Mondika (pronounced Mondeeka) was born August 4 and will be nicknamed Mona if it's a girl or Mondo if it's a boy. Because Asha keeps her baby cradled to her body, the zoo hasn't been able to determine yet if Mondika is male or female.

This is Asha's first baby and Jomo's second, his first being Bakari, a male gorilla born at the Zoo in 2006. The Zoo is now home to nine Western Lowland gorillas, which it says "are critically endangered in the wild, with less than 175,000 individuals."